LIFE IS SHORT | Autobiography as Haiku

Sunday, August 22, 2004; Page D01

Istudied on a ship that went around the world to 11 countries. A month later I'm in Oxford, England (because I needed to see more). My older cousin is fascinated by my recent trip. She asks about my courses. What Japanese philosophers did you study? Ummmm . . . but all I can remember is the sizzling okonomiyaki and my homestay mother's smile. She asks about Tanzanian literature. All I can remember is Kilimanjaro beer, the kindest mambos (hellos) and feeling so beautiful. This embarrassing episode continues until she realizes. She laughs and I smile. Sometimes learning is just about living.

On the first day of the summer internship, I notice my phone is positioned on the far right side of my desk. I decide the right is symbolically an appropriate position in this office of a Republican senator. It's certainly my position. The constituents start calling, and soon I notice that all the calls are from the left, complaints to their senator on the right. They don't like the tax cuts, or Iraq, or big business, or pollution, or Dick Cheney. But as I listen, I notice something else. I've moved my phone to the middle of the desk.

Joshua Sundquist

Williamsburg

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